A moderate level of carbonation forms a thin tan lacing, which leaves several sticky rings on the glass. The charcoal black color is dark enough not to let any light through, and a lovely darkness it is. Complex nose of chocolate cake batter, hint of bubblegum, ripe figs, iced coffee and a bit of brown bread. Creamy, silky, lush, full body flows onto the palate with a rich smoothness. There's a mild burnt flavor throughout, with roasted grain and suggestions of burnt sugar and unsweetened chocolate. Solid malt foundation, not too much sweetness, but certainly more than enough to hold the beer together. Woody herbal hopping shows a modest bitterness--more of a tagalong flavor with the roasted character. There's a mild warmth from the alcohol with a mellow fruitiness that goes from raisins to figs. A clean roasted finish points toward dry.

Very impressive, a really robust Porter here. Very balanced, and with just enough complexity to make it interesting without cutting into its drinkability.

More User Reviews:

A: Dark brown with a 2 cm pale beige head that settles rather fast. Some lacings.

S: Quite a lot of butterscotch. Some fudge. Malts and dark fruits. Notes of coffee. A decent smell with quite a round character. But the butterscotch seems a little out of place.

T: Mostly smooth dark malts with notes of rye bread and chocolate. The finish is kind of short and has a minimal bitterness to it with notes of nuts and a gentle spicy hop bite. Some alcohol. The taste is overall quite uninteresting and one-sided, but nothing is really off.

M: Medium body, too much carbonation and an almost watery texture.

D: An okay beer. Nothing I will remember for the rest of my life, but still decent. But decent is not really enough for a Baltic/Imperial porter - there are so many better beers of this style out there.

I got this beer from my parents who went to Maine on vacation and got it straight from the brewery. I was discovering a new craft so I was pretty excited. First and foremost, I would like to say that there is no such thing as an Imperial Porter. You either brew an Imperial Stout or you brew a Baltic Porter. However, I understand the point... it is a "strong" Porter. Visualy the beer was nice, but it was not THE thing. Not su much lacing, nice tan head and color dark with dark brown of ligth coming through. Smell was good. Toasted malt is present. Alcool is peeking. Taste is toffee, ripe fruit and molasse. Too much sugar for me to be in style. Carbonation is good and it is thin but that is something to me that is okay for a porter. Overall, the beer is pleasant to drink, just not in the style advertise. It was somewhat closer to a scotch ale...

Served in my snifter, the beer was a very dark brown, almost black, color with a thin tan, clingy head. Mild roasted malt aroma. Coffee, no espresso, came through more in the taste. I thought it tasted pretty good, but noted an unpleasant bitterness coming through at the end. Not a bad beer. I would buy it again, but not for the $10 I paid for this one.

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark brown and turns to a black color in my glass. A thick dark fluffy head forms and stays.

The aroma is malty full of chocolate and hints of coffee come through. A nice sweet crystal malt comes through to make this smell like a desert beer.

The taste starts with a sweet crystal malt, roasted malts come in and creates a almost dryness on the tongue. As i linger between sips new levels come to the mouth a caramel taste and a slight bitterness make a nice rounded flavor. The more i drink this beer the better I like it.

Poured murky dark brown with a dense tan head. Thick lacing creeps down the sides with the beer. Heavily chocolate and caramel nose, along with an very earthy/peat aroma. Low carbonation in the mouthfeel, but avoids feeling flat or watery. Powerful roasted malt and caramel taste up front that ebbs slightly to a Baker's chocolate taste. Heavy molasses throughout. A wooden barrel flavor blended with peat/earth again pops up and stays until the finish. Slightly veggie and soy sauce at times when it warmed up. It was good, but felt like a meal.

Pours a very dark black with a HUGE brown head that slowly fades away to some really nice fine lacing. Nose is gross, it smells like vomit or bad chocolate, bleh.

Taste is decent, lots of roasted chocolate and burnt coffee, it's got a very nice mouthfeel though, it's really creamy with nice carbonation, but that's the highlight of this beer. It's decent and I got it cheap but don't pay more than $3-4 for a bomber.

12 oz bottle stored in a cooler with a best by date of 9/2012. Pours nearly black and is opaque in the glass. Nice tan head leaves some irregular lacing. The aroma is wht weak spot for me, with the dark roasted malts presenting a slightly sour note. Improved maredly with some warming/airing. The taste is better, with just an acceptable hint of sourness at times, but a little more burnt flavor than I prefer. Still, nicely rich dark malt flavor with a momentary hit of sweet up front.

This one is a classic dark brown color, decent carbonation, looks rather heavy and livey with a nice 2" deep tan colored head that holds on in moderate fashion with plenty of sticky goodness left over.

The nose is very well-rounded with deep, dark chocolate, slightly bitter yeast and hops kick and smokey coffee beans with vanilla. This is a very smooth aroma.

This is a medium to full and rather heady malty body with smooth dark chocolate syrup effect but not at all slick or clumpy, it's more crisp with a smooth finish and pretty dry. The chocolate flavor is balanced by a earthy and bitter yeast in the middle with green, earthy hops. I really this yeast strain works well with this style, giving it a very English twist. Light-roast coffee with vanilla and a very well-hidden heat pops out more as the brew warms up to room temp.

This is a very good porter, perhaps a bit light for an Imperial but at 7.1% is very drinkable. Gotta love free samples!

Good color, with a nice head that dissipated rather quickly. Smells of coffee, a little cream and vanilla. Lots of flavors, several layers. Some unidentifiable dark fruit in the middle with a very bitter aftertaste. A little over carbonated but solid mouthfeel otherwise. Pretty good beer. Probably wont go out to acquire more but I enjoyed the beer.

A finger of tan head, dark black body, some surface memory and plenty of lace.

Nose was initially curiously like red wine. Some tang, and a healthy dose of malt. Smells nice.

All right, when the bottle boasted "a good hop bite," I was apprehensive, but I bought it off the recommendation of a stranger. I don't like hops in my porter/stout (even if it's a Baltic porter). I was not at all disappointed; it's subdued, and they're mild English hops, not American. They're well balanced by sweet, slightly nutty, slightly roasty malt.

Feel is a bit coarse, but just a bit.

This was a refreshing reminder that 'imperial' porters/stouts needn't be off the wall and full of chocolate/vanilla/chile/bourbon/etc to be good.

T- The taste like the aroma suggests features a dark bitter roastiness with some coffee and a good amount of bittering hops in the finish. There is an unpleasant bitterness in the taste, almost like burnt coffee.

M- The mouthfeel is somewhere between light and medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.

D- Overall, I'm not a huge fan of this beer, definitely not something I'd purchase again.

Looks killer sitting in my snifter. Pours an almost completely black, thick liquid. Dark black with only slight brown hues mixed in. The head is slow forming and thick. Full of both small- and large-sized bubbles, light brown in color. Good retention and nice, thick lacing.

It's a malt bomb. Full of roasted barley, chocolate malts and even a little coffee. Smells like coffee mixed with charcoal.

You can pick up the black patent and chocolate malts. Bittersweet chocolate and coffee tastes. Just enough hops in the finish to balance the malt flavors and give a tick of bitter and acid.

Creamy up front. Very smooth. Full bodied. A nice crisp, hoppy bitter finish.

Almost perfect. Exactly what I'm looking for in a beer. Wish is had more alcohol, being an imperial porter, but that's picking nits. Excellent beer.

Poured a deep dark brown though clear with some nice ruby highlights. The head was thin and quickly gone.

The smell was bold with a bit of fenal, coffee, and toffee sweetness.

Has a nice burnt malt flavor with the fenal and chocolate flavors giving it a nice touch, the infamous ringwood yeast is apparent giving it some of the classic buttery taste, but its mild enough not to be a detriment like it is in so many other shipyard brews.

The mouthfeel has a slick oily quality to it with a long lasting bit of resiny hop oil leaving a lingering taste.

Overall not a bad stab at the style, the price seems a bit unreasonable and would stop me from buying a second time, but worth it as a one time shot.